On the upside: E-cigarettes are considerably more effective than over-the-counter treatments such as nicotine gum and patches at helping people to quit smoking, a [b]University College London[/b] study shows. An expert is quoted in [s]The Independent[/s] as saying it would be ‘perfectly reasonable’ for the devices, which will soon be licensed as medicines, to be prescribed on the [b]UK’s National Health System[/b], despite concerns that the recent rise in their popularity may be ‘re-normalising’ smoking.
On the downside: E-cigarettes appear to boost the virulence of drug-resistant pathogens, according to researchers at the [b]VA San Diego Healthcare System[/b] and [b]University of California, San Diego[/b]. [s]Medical News Today[/s] reports that according to lead author Dr Laura Crotty Alexander, exposing methicillin-resistant [i]Staphylococcus aureus[/i] (MRSA) to e-cigarette vapour increased the virulence of the bacteria, making it better able to establish infection in the body and cause more severe disease. E-cigarette vapour also decreases the ability of human epithelial cells to kill pathogens. However, the study also found the virulence of MRSA was even greater when exposed to conventional cigarette smoke.
[link url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/ecigarettes-could-be-prescribed-on-the-nhs-as-study-finds-they-help-smokers-quit-9404549.html]Full report in The Independent[/link]
[link url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12623/abstract]Addiction abstract[/link]
[link url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/276912.php]Full Medical News Today report[/link]
[link url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/ats-emb051214.php]American Thoracic Society Conference abstract[/link]